


There's Nothing Wrong With You

by Enonem



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aromantic, Aromantic Charlie Weasley, Aromantic Sirius Black, Asexual Character, Asexual Charlie Weasley, Asexual Sirius Black, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 23:24:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20379853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enonem/pseuds/Enonem
Summary: The Weasleys are a great family, but they don't understand that Charlie really does not care about romantic relationships. Sirius tries to help.





	There's Nothing Wrong With You

The morning was getting on, but Sirius was still in bed. A muggle car drove by in the street below and the reflection of the sun on its windows flashed on the ceiling. There was noise coming from downstairs, the sleepy bustle of people going down for breakfast and talking about what they were going to do with their day.

It was good to have so many people living in the house. It kept the bad childhood memories at bay and helped with the fact that, well. He was essentially back in prison.

As he was contemplating finally getting up, he heard someone coming down the stairs and stopping just outside his door.

"I said leave it, Bill." That was Charlie, he was staying for a few days before he went back to his dragons. "I get enough of this from Mum."

"I know," replied Bill. "And I'm not going to push. I'm just saying that if there is something you're not comfortable telling her, you can tell me. I'm not going to judge."

"And all I'm saying is there is nothing to say. I don't have a girlfriend, I'm not going to have one, I'm just not interested."

"Sure, that's fine," said Bill in a very understanding tone. "To each their own, man. We all like different things, it's fine."

There was a pause. "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing. Just that it's ok if you're not interested in girls." He put a very slight emphasis on the last word.

Another pause. "I'm not gay, Bill."

"No, of course not." Bill replied a little too quickly and cheerfully.

"No. Really. I'm just not interested in... in anyone."

"Sure," Bill said in that same cheerful tone. "No problem. That's fine. Let's go get some breakfast." Footsteps moved away from the door and down the next flight of stairs. There was a long sigh and then Charlie followed his brother.

Sirius stared at the door for a moment, frowning.

He looked at the pages from Muggle magazines he had put up as a teenager. The motorcycles he actually liked and the scantily clad women he had just put up to piss off his parents.

"Huh."

-

A few hours later, Sirius was trying to convince a rather amused Kingsley to tell the Ministry that he was hiding in Tibet, while Remus snorted next to him.

“Come on, it’s brilliant! An evil Death Eater hiding out with Muggle monks? They will be so confused.”

“Exactly,” Kingsley replied. “We don’t want the Aurors to be confused. Confusion leads to questions.”

“Oh, pshh. I’ve been confusing you for two years and you still didn’t find me until Mad-Eye took you to my door.”

Kinglsey did not rise to the jibe. “Lack of information is not the same as strange information.”

“Eh… ‘woof’.” He grinned.

Kingsley made a non-committal sound.

They all looked up when Ron walked in the room, muttering under his breath. “If he wants to hide, let him. I’m hungry, why do I have to-”

He saw them sitting in the corner and walked over. “Hey, have you seen Charlie? Mum hasn’t seen him since breakfast. Uh, lunch is nearly ready, by the way.”

Sirius glanced at Remus, who gave him a knowing look.

Breakfast had been an uncomfortable affair. Molly had indeed told Charlie numerous times that it was time he found a nice girl, glancing at Bill every time she used the word “nice”, in a way that suggested she was not entirely pleased with her eldest son’s new girlfriend and was hoping Charlie would do better. Bill had been staring quietly into his food, too irritated to speak up in his brother’s defence. Which Sirius thought was probably for the best. He felt distinctly sorry for the young man.

“I think I saw him earlier,” he lied. “You go down to lunch, I’ll find Charlie for you.”

“Excellent! Thanks, Sirius!” Ron practically ran out of the room.

Sirius got up and pointed a finger at Kingsley. “Tibet!”

“We’ll see.”

Sirius headed for the stairs. From what he knew of him, there was only one place Charlie could have gone. He opened the door to his mother’s bedroom without knocking. Charlie was there, brushing Buckbeak’s lower coat. He looked up when Sirius walked in.

“Ah. Sorry, I was just…” Charlie stammered.

Sirius smiled. “He’s not quite a dragon, I guess,” he said while nodding his head at the Hippogriff. By now this was all he needed to do before getting close to Buckbeak, who nudged him fondly. “But he’ll do when you prefer the company of animals to that of people,” he continued. Charlie grinned.

“Your mother’s looking for you.”

“I know.” Charlie glanced at him. “Are you here to tell me that she means well and she just pesters me because she loves me?”

Sirius looked at him for a moment and spread out his hands to gesture at the house. “I’m not going to give people advice about their mothers any time soon.”

Charlie laughed. A little. “Look. I know that she just wants me to be happy,” he sighed. “And I know it shouldn’t bother me that much. Especially with everything else that’s going on. But…” He trailed off with a shrug.

Sirius said nothing.

“I’ll just go back down and bear it, it’s ok.” He made to stand up.

“I spent years watching James tie himself into knots over Lily,” Sirius started without preamble. Charlie froze on his feet.

“He’d zone out if she walked into the room. If she spoke to him, even to borrow a piece of parchment, he could spend the afternoon going over her exact words, the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes. Again and again and again.”

Charlie frowned at him and slowly sat back down.

Sirius continued. “It always seemed like an awful lot of bother to me. And for what? A different kind of friend? Then one day they started going out and he was happy. I still didn’t understand, but I was happy to be happy for him.” 

Charlie was looking at his hands, frown still in place. The silence was broken only by Buckbeak snapping his beak to remind Sirius to resume petting him.

“When I started Hogwarts,” Charlie said cautiously. “There were still stories about you.”

“I’m sure there were.”

Charlie shook his head. “No, I mean- some of the Seventh Year girls, and a couple of boys too. They went around saying that they had dated you when you were still at Hogwarts.”

“When did you start school again?”

“In ‘84.”

“Oh that’s ridiculous!” Sirius laughed. “They would have been what, 12 when I was 18? Who would believe that?”

“Wide eyed First Years?”

Sirius bobbed his head in acknowledgement. Then he realised something. “Ah. The Death Eater hunt was just wrapping up. I’d been in prison for a couple of years by then, but I guess I must have made for a more interesting fake past boyfriend than Snape.” He ran a hand through his hair, a little uncomfortable. “And- I suppose I was… popular at the time. It got a little too much in my last year, actually. I had to start asking my friends to reject people on my behalf. James found it hilarious, but Remus was begging me to let him handle it. Apparently I was a little… blunt.”

That got a huff of laughter from Charlie. “So you had all these girls-”

“And some boys,” Sirius added a little sheepishly.

“And some boys, throwing themselves at you and you never…?”

“Never.” He shrugged. “It just did not seem like a better way of spending my time than getting in trouble with my friends.”

Charlie still looked pensive, but a smile was definitely settling onto his face. Good. Sirius might actually be doing some good here.

“And your friends? They understood?” Charlie asked.

“I think Remus and Pet-” he winced. Charlie politely pretended that he had not noticed his slip. Sirius coughed and carried on. “I think Remus was a little resentful, despite himself. Especially around Fifth Year. He had a few crushes here and there, but they wouldn’t look at him, shabby and sickly looking. And there I was, with a string of admirers and no interest for them. To some level he must have thought that I was showing off. But he figured it out once he grew up. Even apologised for it. Which he didn’t have to do, but that’s Remus. And James…” He felt himself smile, if a little sadly. The past hurt less these days. “James was a romantic. It took some time for him to really understand, but he always listened. And he never told me that I would change my mind or that there was something wrong with me.”

Charlie flinched at that.

“Because there isn’t,” Sirius continued. “Is there?”

Charlie blinked at him for a stunned second. Then he beamed.

“No,” he said. “No I guess there isn’t.”

Sirius reached out and patted him on the shoulder. “Come on now. Let’s go get something to eat.”

He stood and stretched. “And if your mother brings it up again, I’ll distract her. If there’s anything I’m good at, it’s irritating Molly.”

Charlie laughed properly this time. He gave Buckbeak a final head scratch and went to the door. “Thank you,” he said.

Sirius nodded and followed him downstairs, feeling distinctly better with himself.

**Author's Note:**

> The alternative summary was going to be "Local mother of seven does not understand the concept of 'not caring about sex'".


End file.
